Ganoderma Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 i am sure many have heard this. 33 people dead at a school shotting in virginia USA. It's no wonder school sare starting to treat their students like prisoners. how long until we wear bullet proof vests? Dozens killed in Virginia Tech shooting spree : Top Stories : News : Sympatico / MSN thoughts, opinions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes Benzene Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 http://hypography.com/forums/lounge/1562-take-moment-129.html#post170615Very sad indeed. Disgusting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ganoderma Posted April 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 yes, very sad. Even more embarassing. More proof that humans need some kind of control over dangerous goods. I am canadian and have purchased firearms in oregon...it is so easy to buy guns there. their requirments were (this is only 6/7 years ago) you need t be 18+ and a citizen of Oregon. handguns you needed to be 21 and something else i forget. anyway, i was 17 with my friend and we bought a .22 cal rifle to take hiking. i am under 18 and not even american. that scared me a little bit. although not perfect i like canadas laws much more for gun control. you need to take a course, pass a test and buy permits. that and you can only buy from special stores with appropriate licensing. much safer, and we have no school rampages (with guns). something is wrong with our "civilized" west :) that said there are some pretty scary psycho people here in taiwan where there are NO guns allowed...enter the sword (among others). :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigD Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 This is a very emotion-laden event for me and my family. Both of my parents have degrees from Va Tech. I went to half a dozen conferences there, and worked for several months in the IT group of their School of Veterinary Medicine. In the 1980s, my SCA shire was associated with Backsburg’s barony. My mom’s boyfriend lives in Blacksburg (but has no direct connection with the school). It’s been decades since I had any personal friends there, but still think of the Tech campus (in the ‘80s, we commonly referred to Va Tech as VPI, for Virginia Polytechnic Institute) as like home. The images of the violence there were, therefore, eerie. Though the deaths and injuries of so many people are terrible, I’m inspired by the prevalent response of the students, faculty, staff, police, and community to continue the schools mission of education and community building, viewing this tragedy as unavoidable act of senseless, random violence, and by the calm heroics of many of the students directly threatened in the shootings. Without the actions of several students, such as those who placed themselves literally in the line of fire while blocking a door against the return of the killer to the first classroom to be attacked, more people almost certainly would have been killed. I’m less favorable disposed toward the reaction and behavior of the several news agencies that have reported the massacre, who, unlike the people of Blacksburg, have tended to focus on finding fault and laying blame. Although the next days and weeks will surely reveal many things that could have been done differently to prevent many of the deaths and injuries, I believe everyone charged with protecting their people were acting to the limits of their ability, judgment, and luck. Although lessons should be learned and new safeguards implemented, blame, IMHO, serves no one in the present situation. Of the people arguing that Virginia’s unusually permissive gun ownership laws and policies are to blame for the massacre, and especially those arguing that it could have been prevented if a recent proposal to allow teachers and students were allowed to be armed on campus were not rejected by state lawmakers, my reaction borders on contempt. I hope their efforts to turn this local tragedy to the advantage of their varied agendas fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmaromine Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 My science teacher has a son who goes there – he called to tell he was ok. He told her that his roommate was trying to leave one of the buildings, when he walked down a staircase. . .only to find a dead student. It is quite saddening. I'm only about 4 hours from there... The rest of last period (science), we just watched some online news videos. It is utterly saddening, and it's a shame the shooter died. As I see it, he deserves to regret every one of thirty lifes. (Or however many lives it is.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddy Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 The shooter, a 23 year old VT student from South Korea, walked into a gun shop presented a Virginia drivers license, green card, and written proof of an address and bought a handgun. It was all legal in VA. In MA a citizen needs to apply for either a license to carry or target practice, submit to a background check/CORI, finger prints and a photo, and identification before a five day waiting period to buy a handgun, then only if the local police chief approves the permit. It is difficult to buy a handgun legally in MA. This all begs the question, should non-citizens be allowed to own and carry firearms in the US? My answer, No Freakin' way!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffy Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 This whole thing is numbing. A good friend of mine called me today to let me know her niece and nephew who both go to VT are okay, but her nephew's roommate was shot three times and injured and several of her niece's closest friends were killed and one seriously injured. We also have a new member here who registered literally minutes before the shooting started yesterday morning who we have not heard back from, which is not surprising, but makes all of us concerned for her welfare. What is really sick though is the way some of the wackos are responding to this.... Please say a prayer or better, do something--anything--in your daily life that helps people get along together better. Not very cheery today,Buffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tormod Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 What is really sick though is the way some of the wackos are responding to this :) Really. :evil: What else to say. Virginia Tech is all over the news here too, of course. Totally, incredibly insane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiniteNow Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 This all begs the question, should non-citizens be allowed to own and carry firearms in the US? My answer, No Freakin' way!!!And this would help.... How? :shrug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddy Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 And this would help.... How? :shrug:So walking into a gun store buying a handgun on the spot, he did pass a US background check, filing off the serial numbers and then planning this sick attack, would not be helped by limiting who can and cannot legally own firearms in the US? It is my personal belief that non-citizens be denied access to firearms. When you live in a neighborhood where Jamaicans, Brazilians, Dominicans, and other foreigners own legal or illegal firearms I might sleep a little better. Those are the groups who over the last few years who have been arrested for drug dealing and firearms charges in my neighborhood. I am sure citizens also engage in these behaviors, but lately no arrests have been made in my neighborhood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tormod Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 AFAIK most other school mass murders in the US have been performed by US kids so your reasoning has little bearing on what happened at Virginia Tech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monomer Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 I don't understand why the American government continues to allow just anyone to buy a firearm. After the Port Arthur shooting in Tasmania in 1996 the Australian governement responded by tightening gun laws and buying back firearms. We haven't had a gun massacre since. Of course people can still obtain guns if they really want to; there's always a way, but at least it's not as easy for people to do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Racoon Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 I don't understand why the American government continues to allow just anyone to buy a firearm. After the Port Arthur shooting in Tasmania in 1996 the Australian governement responded by tightening gun laws and buying back firearms. We haven't had a gun massacre since. Of course people can still obtain guns if they really want to; there's always a way, but at least it's not as easy for people to do so. Right now this shouldn't be about finger pointing.But rather looking at the causes. Theres a law restricting gun possesion on school campuses and of course in courtrooms.But a psycho will find a way to get a gun regardless. I'm going to say that this students "dark creative writing" will be thoroughly examined by the FBI. Indeed a dark chapter in History. Which regurgitates my point that while the media fixated on Don Imus for an entire week, crucifying his "Nappy headed Ho" comment, that its pretty much just bullshit becuz' this is the reality of the world.. where people get KILLED!If you're "deeply Offended" by a comment, then you need to wake the hell up!Look around. How did he kill 32 people with a 9mm handgun?? he must have reloaded the clip.. Its quite Shocking. :shrug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercedes Benzene Posted April 17, 2007 Report Share Posted April 17, 2007 I don't understand why the American government continues to allow just anyone to buy a firearm. After the Port Arthur shooting in Tasmania in 1996 the Australian governement responded by tightening gun laws and buying back firearms. We haven't had a gun massacre since. Of course people can still obtain guns if they really want to; there's always a way, but at least it's not as easy for people to do so. Unfortunately there was this little section added on to the United States Constitution in the late 18th century that makes tightly regulating guns fairly difficult. Thank you Second Amendment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freddy Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 How did he kill 32 people with a 9mm handgun?? he must have reloaded the clip.. He had two handguns with multiple clips, a 9mm with a 15 shot capacity and a .22 caliber long rifle with 11 shot capacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maikeru Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Even though I'm basically on the other side of the US and far away from the sadness, my heart goes out to the students and other people at VT and in Virginia who must bear this terrible loss and tragedy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monomer Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Unfortunately there was this little section added on to the United States Constitution in the late 18th century that makes tightly regulating guns fairly difficult. Thank you Second Amendment. Well, until the Second Amendment is amended, perhaps we should be looking at what is driving these kids to do such a thing. No sane, well adjusted, content person is really going to decide to kill a bunch of people, and perhaps themselves, today. This all goes far deeper than gun laws - society is in trouble for many other reasons. InfiniteNow and Southtown 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.